Up to Us to Save the World
by Frob
Summary: With the Avatar not being found and being presumed gone, it is up for an exiled Prince and a Water Tribe girl. Maybe the World does not need an Avatar to be saved (Zuko x Katara) (Zutara)


Upon arrival to the South Pole, Zuko discovered that he was completely wrong about the location of the Avatar. He questioned every single resident, but got nothing out of it, since there was no Avatar and no hope of ever finding him. Zuko's crew had abandoned them, as they wanted to return home and not be associated with the exiled prince anymore. They were escorted off the ship to the outskirts of the village and were abandoned.

"Nephew, it looks as though your father lead you astray to get rid of you." His uncle told him, but Zuko countered:

"My father would never do this to me! He sent me on this quest to restore my honor!" The prince yelled using the fire to melt some of the snow.

"We have looked everywhere, Zuko, we could not find the Avatar. We've checked every corner of the Earth and there has been no sign of the Avatar anywhere, nor there will be. A hundred years is a long time, Zuko." Iroh said sipping his tea that he brought from the ship.

"What am I supposed to do now, uncle?" Zuko questioned his uncle. "Tell me? What is my destiny? Is there any way I can restore my honor? We are going to rot here!"

"It is not about the restoration of your honor or your destiny. It is about you being tricked by my brother into thinking that you will find a legendary man. I have not seen an Avatar in my lifetime, and I am nearing a very old age, neither will you. Do not waste your time looking for him." Iroh put his hand on Zuko's shoulder, as the prince slumped down and looked around at the ocean and at the village they just recently entered. Suddenly, they heard a gasp behind them. Turning their heads around they saw a water tribe girl looking at them in shock and horror, either from overhearing them or from them being a part of the fire nation:

"Come, drink some tea with us." Uncle Iroh invited her suddenly as Zuko gave him an angry look, to which Iroh replied:

"What, Zuko? At this point we are exiles of the Fire Nation, there is no way we are getting back there. Might as well make amends with our current situation." Iroh said prolonging a cup of his tea to the girl, who upon hearing him, cautiously accepted it without saying a word. She sipped the tea and eyed them once more, this time sitting a little bit closer.

"Cat caught your tongue, girl? Tell us your name." Iroh gave her a kind smile, to which she replied:

"K-Katara." She said with a shaking voice, still unable to react properly to their presence. Uncle Iroh continued smiling:

"My name is Iroh, and this is Zuko. We did not mean to bring any harm to this village. My nephew just got very passionate about trying to fulfil a false destiny." Iroh explained frowning.

"So I've heard." She replied, remaining calm and as unemotional as possible. Zuko threw her a hopeless gaze, he was fed up with his travels and his situation. The search for the Avatar took a toll on the Prince. He suddenly got fed up with everything, took his knife and cut off his ponytail and flailed it in to the snow.

"I've waited for the Avatar all my life as well, you know. He never came, and I doubt he will ever come." Katara said with a sad expression on her face. "I thought he was going to help rescue us from the scourge of war that your father brought upon us."

"I do not know if his presence would have changed anything." Zuko commented. "Why were you so adamant for his return?"

"Your people killed my mother." She suddenly cried out. "Of course, I would want someone to come in, even with a little sliver of hope, and stop the suffering the Fire Nation has caused!"

Iroh shook his head in disapproval. He gave her a sadder look than Zuko's. He felt responsible for the terrors that he and his people had committed:

"Tell me girl, do you remember who did this to your mother?" Iroh questioned, to which the girl replied:

"I don't know the name, but I remember the look in his eyes, and I remember their sigil, which was a sea raven." Katara blurted out clenching her fists in anger, after hearing which Zuko widened his eyes:

"Uncle, the Southern Raiders!" He shouted in realization, as Katara gasped again, but this time in anger.

"Where do we find these Southern Raiders?" She said attempting to create some sort of a whip from water, which immediately shattered as Katara fell to her knees and began sobbing. Zuko and Iroh looked at each other and back at Katara:

"I know where they are, but we have no way of getting to them." Zuko said with a concerned look on his face. He did not understand what was happening, but he also felt a sliver of pity for the girl. After a long pause, Iroh noticed:

"I see that your waterbending abilities need some improvement. I am a firebender myself, but I can teach you a few techniques if you'd like."

Before Katara could respond, they saw Sokka charging at them with his boomerang. Zuko shook his head in disapproval and just heated the boomerang up enough that Sokka would drop it.

"We've been through this road, water tribe boy. I have no reason to fight you." The Prince uttered in a monotone and quiet voice, which Sokka was surprised to hear:

"Why are you still here? Where is your ship?" He questioned, looking around, eyeing both Iroh and Zuko.

"Sokka, they are exiles…" Katara explained looking down at her feet grief-stricken.

"Ah, so they are basically our war prisoners!" Sokka exclaimed, but Katara suddenly struck him.

"They are our guests, Sokka! At this point at least." Katara said angrily.

"Have you gone mad? He is the SON OF THE FIRELORD! THE PRINCE OF THE FIRE NATION! AND THIS IS THE BROTHER OF THE FIRELORD! Open your…"

"That's enough, Sokka. I'll take care of them myself, you go back to the village and tell them that we have guests." Katara said, to which Sokka did not reply and went away. Iroh decided to join the boy:

"Young man, wait. I will help you relay everything." Iroh said and followed Sokka, who shook his head in disapproval again, soon they disappeared in to the village, as Katara sat quietly near Zuko.

"So, you know where the Southern Raiders are?" The girl finally broke the silence, to which Zuko nodded.

"Take me there, I want them to pay for what they did to my mother!" She exclaimed, pulling Zuko's arm either out of frustration or desperation, the Prince could not figure it out.

"We are virtually stuck in this village, there is no way to sail anywhere from here without a bigger ship." Zuko said with the same hopeless expression.

"My father took away all of our fleet… There is no way for us to sail…" Tears formed in Katara's eyes, but disappeared, after she immediately remembered that there was an immobilized Fire Nation ship, which had been pretty much intact:

"There is a ship that had been stalled years ago by the waterbenders in this tribe, which unfortunately got scattered around the world, leaving me to be the only waterbender around. If you can work this ship, I will aid you as long you honor one thing: help me take revenge on the man who murdered my mother."

Prince Zuko was shocked to hear her revelation, to which he responded by taking her hand and whispering to her for the first time with glimpses of hope. Katara smiled for the first time since the boy with coal black hair ventured in to the village with somewhat ill intentions.

"Let's go back to the village for today, it has been a long day… thanks to you." Katara complained as she made her way towards the village, Zuko followed suit. Katara was so focused on her thoughts, she did not care to look under her feet. There was a small rock sticking out from the snow that she slightly tripped on and rolled her ankle:

"Ouch." Her train of thought was interrupted, but she decided to march on, even with a slight limp, which Zuko noticed.

"Are you alright?" He asked the girl, who nodded and continued walking forward. At first Katara was in front of Zuko, but later she started lagging. Zuko patiently waited for her. They finally arrived at the village, ten minutes later than Iroh and Sokka, who were already in the tent of Kanna, discussing the terms of Iroh's and Zuko's stay. Zuko watched Katara with a bit of concern, she seemed to be taken aback after tripping. Despite that, she pretended as though nothing had happened.

"Ah, there's Prince Zuko!" Iroh exclaimed smiling. "Congratulations, we've settled our differences. We are the guests of the Water Tribe."

Zuko nodded both to his uncle and Kanna, who looked at him with a bit of resentment, but without much hostility. Zuko sat down near his uncle. Katara soon limped in to the igloo and sat beside Zuko.

"I accept you as guests, however, Sokka you are in charge of guarding Iroh, and Katara you are in charge of guarding Zuko.

"Hey, why does Katara gets to guard the Prince and I get to guard the old man?" Sokka complained.

"It's because you and the prince are going to get in to more quarrels and disturb the peace in the village." Kanna pointed her finger at Sokka, who was visibly annoyed by the decision of his grandmother.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Iroh thanked the old woman and went with Sokka to his tent, while Zuko went to his, while Katara limped after him. Zuko noticed that she had gotten a bit worse than last time.

It was already getting dark, Zuko and Iroh were getting tired. Zuko nodded to Katara, and they left:

"Katara, we should go tomorrow. Today has been a long day…" He commented, to which Katara nodded. He did cause havoc in the village by looking for the Avatar causing fear and anxiety to every villager, including her, but now he was just a mere guest. His tent was one of the specifically put up for the stay of visitors, in a somewhat secluded part of the village. They both sat down in silence without looking at each other. Zuko's attention shifted to Katara putting her hand on her right ankle and slightly rubbing it. He decided to step in, since it did not look like the girl is going to take any action about her injury:

"Katara, are you sure you are alright?" He inquired once more, receiving another timid nod in response.

"Getting that ship ready is not going to be an easy feat, a lot of work goes in to it, so I need to know that you are fully prepared." Zuko explained putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Well…ummm…" Katara murmured taking off her right shoe, revealing a slightly swollen ankle. Zuko examined it causing Katara to yelp. He said:

"Nothing too serious. You strained a muscle right here." Zuko pressed his thumb against it almost causing Katara to pull her foot away, though the round gentle motion he started making with his thumb made her reconsider:

"Is this some sort of massage?" She murmured, blushing a bit, it was unexpected and from a person she did not fully trust, yet it felt amazing on her sore ankle.

"Yes, my mother taught me this. You should be good as new by tomorrow." Zuko answered, his voice had a sad ring to it. Nonetheless, he was now massaging her ankle using both of his hands.

"It feels nice. What happened to her?" Katara's curiosity got the best of her when she noticed Zuko's mood change. Her ankle felt much better since Zuko began to work his "magic".

"She left, without saying a word, Katara. I have no idea where she is, and my father never told me where she went. I've wondered ever since. Therefore I am not against helping you, Katara… I understand your anger, however it still pains me that I have to turn on my nation…"

"You did not turn on your nation, Zuko, your nation turned against you." Katara put her hand on his forearm, only slightly. Zuko looked down at her foot, the swelling subsided.

"Huh, strange…" He mumbled to himself, which Katara overhead and blushed all of a sudden.

"My foot? Why is it strange?" She asked raising her voice and taking of the other shoe: "Is there something wrong with my feet, Zuko? You can be honest."

Zuko was taken aback:

"No, no. Your feet are mostly fine… It's just…" He tried to explain himself his face getting redder by the second.

"Oh...? Ummm… What's wrong?" Katara lowered her voice, trying to remain serious, but her blush had become obvious, despite her darker skin.

"Your arches are a little low and your feet looked a little overworked, do you go on walks a lot?"

"How did you know? Hmmmm… Yeah, my feet get sore all the time." She explained and paused for a second, an idea came to her mind:

"Say, Zuko, do you mind rubbing my feet? I think I do need a massage. It practically healed my ankle." She said moving her ankle around. Zuko contemplated for a bit. He was also in a situation where he could not trust her and should not have felt any warmth towards this random water tribe girl, yet there was some sort of connection he could not explain that calmed his frustrations with his father. He should be breaking down, he should be going on a rampage, burning this village down, and yet, something stopped his impulses.

"Don't strain your ankle, let it rest for a bit. As for your feet, I can help with that." Zuko murmured as his hands stretched towards Katara's bare feet. They were a bit narrow, square shaped, with slightly long toes of about equal length. Her arches were a little lower than normal, but it was barely noticeable. He began working on her right arch, sliding his thumbs up and down. Katara exhaled in relief. This went on for a few minutes, when suddenly they heard a voice:

"Nephew, I… oh… I'll leave you two be." Iroh blushed and was about the leave the tent when both Katara and Zuko yelled:

"IT'S A MISUNDERSTANDING!"

"UNCLE!"

 _To be continued…_


End file.
